Affections Across Time
by TiberiusNero
Summary: A series of short stories featuring different people with Chrono Displacement Disorder, and the people who care about them.
1. Phillip and Abigail (1)

**Okay, so this is the first time submitting to . I love "The Time Traveler's Wife", but I felt the concept could be explored a little more with little switch-ups using the concept of CDP. What this is going to be is a series of short stories involving people with CDD, and the people who know them. I have plans to do more than this, but I'd like some input first on whether or not to continue them. With that, I hope you enjoy this first chapter, and know that I look forward to words from all of you.**

**Time Traveler's Wife is the property of Audrey ****Niffenegger**

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(Phillip and Abigail: both 7)

"Stop looking at the ground so much." The adults would always tell him. It was hard not to when every boy on the school ground would give him trouble if they thought he was looking at them. As long as he just kept to himself and didn't give them any reason to bother him, he could be safe, in the lightest sense of the word. He still couldn't figure out why they bothered him. Was it because he wasn't interested in their roughhousing? Were they jealous of his pretty brown curls (his mother's words, not his)? Either way, it didn't matter to him; they would've just found another reason to tease him.

He found real safety in his home. It was only a couple blocks away, so he could just walk there after school. Every other kid would be picked up in their parents' cars, and they were excited to get home, so they would be too distracted to bother him. That was quite fine with him; he preferred the quiet of the neighborhood once he was out of distance of the school. The familiar look of the trees in the neighbor's yard was the signal he was almost home. He picked up the pace a little, almost as if he expected the house to run away from him. But it was there, sure enough: The off-yellow spackle-like walls, the big red stairs, and the wooden door. Taking out the keys his parents trusted him with (they both worked, and his sister came home not too soon after to look after him), he walked into the house and closed the door.

His home was definitely his safe haven. It was something reliable, something calming, and something that he knew he could simply go to, and it would all be there: The couch that's seen better days, the dining table that looks way too nice for the house (it was a Christmas present), and the family pictures on top of the TV. He walked calmly through the familiar hallway, past his parent's room, his sister's door, and finally, to his room right next to the bathroom. Walking in, he tossed his backpack to the bed, and closed the door behind him.

At least…he thought he closed the door. He didn't hear it close, so he thought he must not have put enough force into it. He turned around to close it again…only to find it gone, replaced by a wall further away than the door was, and the sight of a roof of another house past it. He was in a backyard! He was definitely surprised at this, and took a step back, feeling grass on his bare feet. _Where did my shoes go?_ He thought, looking down, only to find another surprise. _Where are my clothes?_

This is not where he expected his day to go. He was indeed lost. He was lost and stark naked in a stranger's backyard. He immediately covered himself with his hands, even though there was no one else around.

Trying to keep calm, he took a look around himself. There was a large tree to his left, and a small garden along the bottom of the wall. It was quiet, and it felt warm enough to be the middle of the day, not that that mattered to him at the moment. Looking behind him, he saw a patio, complete with a wooden table and chairs. Beyond that, he found a sliding glass door. Walking up to the door, as awkwardly as walking while covering your privates would allow, he gripped the handle and pulled, only to find the door locked. Just as he thought what else could happen, he heard something he was afraid he'd hear: The sound of something moving behind him.

He quickly turned around. There was no one there. Now he started to think he was going crazy. Finding yourself in a situation like this can lead one to such a conclusion.

"Hello?" He tried calling out. When no response came, he sighed and thought to himself that it must have been the wind. He did have reason to be scared, but it didn't mean he should be jumping at everything that moves, he told himself. He jumped with a whimper when the sound of movement startled him again. A couple of bushes along the right wall of the yard rustled when the noise was made, so it had to come from there. At best, it was probably a neighbor's cat or an ugly possum at worst. Either way, he felt he couldn't just stand there. While he was frightful, his mother always convinced him to explore things that scared him so that he wouldn't be scared of it anymore. This sparked curiosity in him, which urged him to look into the bushes.

Stepping carefully to avoid making noise, he approached the last bush that moved. He couldn't tell what was in it, forcing him to look closer. He was about to move his hands to push the bushes apart to get a better look, when something came out of them so suddenly, it scared the boy enough to send him on his back.

He sat back up and rubbed his head, shaking the loose grass out of his hair. When his head cleared, he opened his eyes to a curious sight. A girl, appearing to be about his age, was standing over him. She had straight black hair that reached past her shoulders and big green eyes. Curious was that he'd never seen anyone with such bright green eyes. Even more curious was that this girl didn't have a stitch of clothing on her, just like him.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to scare you." Her voice was soft and gentle. She bent down so that her knees were to her chest and she was at eye level with him. "What's your name?"

"Phillip" He said. "My name's Phillip."

"I'm Abigail." She responded.

Phillip noticed she wasn't exactly looking at his face. Following the path of her eyes took, she was actually looking lower. He covered himself again quickly when he realized where she was looking. "What are you looking at?"

Abigail's turned her head to face him. "I've never seen a boy naked before. Can I see it again?"

"Why?"

"I want to look at it more. You can look at me if you want it to be fair." She stood up and raised her hands high above her head, still with a smile on her face. "See?"

Phillip turned his flushed face away. "I used to take baths with my sister, so I already know what's there."

"Aww! That's not fair!" Abigail shook her fists. "I really wanted to look." She blinked, as if she got an idea, and then asked, "If I help you inside this house, would you let me see it?"

He was now at her mercy. It was either stay out here while she uses some secret to get into the house that she likely won't share if he refuses, or suffer embarrassment while she looks at him like some weird art exhibit. Of course, this was all going by assumptions and he could be completely wrong, but he learned to be cautious of strangers for as long as other kids have bullied him.

Despite his paranoia, however, looking at her face, with her bright eyes and gentle smile, he couldn't find any kind of ill will in them. Maybe she was just honestly curious. He told himself that he had nothing more to lose and anything was better than staying outside naked. "Fine." He finally answered.

"Yay!" Abigail jumped up in joy while Phillip stood up, still with at least one hand between his legs. "Let me see!" She said, trying to pry his hand away.

"Not until we're inside." Phillip had seen enough movies and shows on television to know how to make a deal.

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Can we go inside now? It's getting hot out here."

Abigail quickly ran over to the sliding glass door with Phillip trailing after her. "This is my aunt's house. She always leaves a key right here." She picked up one of the small potted plants on the back porch, revealing a key for a door. She promptly unlocked the door, and put the key back under the pot. "If you ever end up here again, you can use this."

"What do you mean, 'end up here again'?" Phillip asked as they walked in. "How did I get here in the first place? And why are we naked?" His patience was wearing thin.

"Oh!" Abigail looked like she just realized something. "Oh my gosh! Is this your first time traveling?"

"Time traveling?" He asked, with an air of disbelief. Any explanation might have made sense. A dream. Aliens. Anything. But time travel? That was one he didn't expect.

"Yup. Time traveling." She answered. "We can't really control it, though. So you could be at home or school and then suddenly be somewhere else the next."

"What about my clothes? What happened to them?"

"They're probably right where you left them. Wherever you were before you got here. You weren't outside, were you?"

Phillip shook his head. "I was at my house."

"Oh, good. I'd hate for them to be gone when you get back."

"I can go back? How do I get back from here?"

"It just happens. You could be here for a few minutes or even an hour. It's different every time."

"Great. I'm stuck in a house in the middle of nowhere and I don't even know how long I'm gonna be here…" Phillip sighed.

"Don't be sad. You're here with an expert." Abigail pointed her thumb to her chest. "Now, didn't you promise me something?"

"Okay." Phillip groaned. He was hoping she forgot. Reluctantly, his hands released their hold from between his legs.

"Put your arms up so I know where they are!" She demanded. She knew what she wanted, and she wasn't going to have it any other way.

"Just don't tickle me…" Phillip fell for this trick before with his relatives. She proceeded to examine his waist very intently, comparing his body with her own over and over, like someone looking over a crossword puzzle. Phillip wasn't sure what the big deal was about. He wondered to himself just why she was so interested, when she got extremely close, causing him to blush. Before she could explore any further, he decided he needed to get on a different topic. "If we really did time travel, what year is this?"

"Well, there's a calendar in the kitchen. We can find out there." Abigail took Phillip's hand and began walking deeper into the house. They walked past what looked like a dining room, or at least a table. It was so clean, and the chairs were so nice, he wondered if it was used at all. At the next doorway, Abigail turned, still holding his hand, causing a bit of tugging since Phillip was distracted.

This was the kitchen, and for such a nice looking house, the kitchen was...fairly modest. The wooden floor was noticeably cold on his feet in comparison to the carpeted floors everywhere else in the house. The stove didn't look very state-of-the-art; it had to be at least older than he was. The fridge looked out of place, a sleek and metallic design in the middle of all the old-fashioned tools that adorned the counters. They still looked they had been used many times.

"The calendar's right here." Abigail pointed to the basic calendar attached to the fridge. "Let's see…a-ha! We traveled to June of last year! No wonder it was so hot. It was January when I traveled."

"Really?" That didn't sound right to Phillip. "But this is next year."

"Oh? How old are you?"

"Seven."

She smiled. "Me too! So I guess that makes you older."

"I guess?" Phillip wasn't sure how to respond to the fact that he was older, even though they were the same age here.

"It's kind of funny." Abigail giggled. "You're the older one, but I'm the one teaching you."

"How do you know so much about this time travel stuff? Have you done it before?"

"Yup! I've done this about three or four times." She answered. "Older me taught me a lot more, though."

Phillip blinked. "Did you just say older you?"

"Yeah. If we can time travel, then that means the older ones of us can go to the past to see us." She answered as if it was the simplest thing.

"Oh. Okay." Phillip just decided to accept that idea. "What do we do now?"

"Well, it doesn't look like anyone's home, so we can just hang out in my cousin's room. Come on." She motioned for Phillip to follow him, and off they went again, this time walking towards the back of the house, turning to a small hallway Phillip didn't notice the first time. There were only a couple of rooms in this hall, and Phillip could see that one of them was the bathroom, the other door closed. She kept walking towards a staircase at the other end of the hall. "It's just up here."

Phillip followed closely, holding onto the rail, as the only light being let in was a window at the top of the stairs. Abigail hurried up the steps, taking two steps at a time for some strides. Phillip had no choice but to quicken his pace just to keep up.

Finally, they reached the top and into a room that looked like it belonged to a teenage boy. The bed was big, and sports memorabilia adorned the walls. At one of the walls was a large wooden dresser, on top of which were displayed a couple of trophies for baseball, indicating he was a part of a team at his school.

"What do we do here?" Phillip asked.

"We can play with his game system, and he's got big shirts we can wear." She opened the bottom drawer and tossed a shirt to Phillip. Putting it on quickly, Phillip found it big enough to cover everything important. He looked up to see Abigail in a shirt that was just as big.

"So, you said you met yourself from the future?" He asked.

A smile graced her face again. "Mm-hmm. She's traveled to my time once or twice. She's really pretty."

"I don't know how you're more pretty in the future..." Phillip said and quickly regretted, putting his hand over his mouth.

For the first time, Abigail blushed. _Being butt naked with a boy didn't make her blush, but this did?_ Phillip thought. "You think I'm pretty?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"Well...yeah." He couldn't lie to save his life (his mother saw to that), and there certainly wasn't much he could do at this point. "A lot of girls at school just look at me and start giggling. I don't get it, but I know it's nothing good."

"Why not?"

"Well, don't you laugh at someone when you're making fun of them?" Phillip's only other experience was with the other boys laughing at him.

"Maybe, or maybe they think you're cute."

It was Phillip's turn to blush. "Cute?!" He soured his face. "You're just making fun of me."

"I am not." Abigail insisted. "I never thought I was pretty. My mom says it all the time, but she's my mom. She's supposed to do that." She looked down at her feet. "Pretty is nice hair and nice clothes. The girls at school all have their hair done up in knots or pigtails or braids, and they have such nice dresses. I used to have my hair up like that, but one time I traveled, and lost my mom's favorite pin. After that, she thought it would be better if I just had my hair combed, and I only get old shirts and pants from my other cousins, because it's okay if those get dirty when they fall on the floor." She said that last part as if she was quoting her mother. She stepped up close to Phillip. "But not only have I met someone who can time travel like me, you think I'm pretty."

"You didn't laugh at me, even though I was naked and looking like a total dummy." Phillip responded. "Mom calls me cute too, and she thinks the other boys push me around because they're jealous. I hope this doesn't happen in front of them. I'd have to move if that ever happened." He looked down, took a breath, and looked back up. "Thanks...for helping me."

Abigail shook her head. "I oughta thank you. In fact..." She moved forward quicker than Phillip could react and gave him a kiss straight on his lips. A tingly feeling was felt all over Phillip's body as he reeled and fell backwards...right on top of his bed.

Feeling the springs of his mattress, Phillip shot upright. His head darted back and forth, seeing the familiar walls of his room. Realizing where he was, he started breathing again. _Was all that a dream?_ He wondered, but two signs told him otherwise. The first was that he was completely naked again, and he could see where he was standing when he traveled, shown by his clothes in a heap near the closed bedroom door. The second was the feeling of the girl's lips on his, still lingering in his memory as if it happened a long time ago. Replaying everything in his head, he put his clothes back on, and proceeded to do his homework, albeit quite distracted.

That night at dinner, his mother couldn't help but notice that her son looked a little more active than he had been in the past few days, quickly stepping up to get his food rather than slowly dragging his feet. "Somebody looks like they had a good day." She said. "Did we make a friend today?"

Not being able to lie, and with a big smile on his face, Phillip only answered, "Yeah."

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**Something cute to start us off. What do you think? R&R and I'll see you later!**


	2. Nicholas and Connie (1)

(Nicholas is 22, Connie is 9)

People like to ask Nicholas about the duffel bag. He carries it around with him all the time, and he's not on a sports team at the college, so it's obvious that people would ask about it. Depending on his mood, he'll give you a different answer: If he's feeling like being funny, he'll tell you "bowling balls" or "This is where I keep the bodies." Sometimes, he'll feel like giving a long drawn out explanation in hopes you'll leave him alone. If he's in a hurry or just doesn't feel like entertaining, he'll just say, "I help my cousin with his soccer team", and move on. But the people in his classes have gotten used to the sight of it, and they just accept that it's something he has, which suits Nicholas just fine.

Today was a test day, and that meant that he could just hang out at the campus for the time he had left until his next class. As usual, Nicholas was one of the first people to complete his test, and as he gathered up his duffel bag and slipped on his backpack, he was feeling pretty good about the answers he put down. If not an "A", he was the kind of person who would be satisfied with a solid "B". Walking down the halls of the 5th floor of the Humanities building, it was very quiet. Quiet enough to hear his own footsteps. It was also quiet enough to hear something else.

pat-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat

Nicholas knew that sound. It was the distinctive sound of bare feet running across tile. He also knew what that meant. Standing still for a moment, he listened closely where it was coming from. Just around the corner, to the left. Walking carefully enough to make as little noise as possible, he got to the corner of the hall, poked his head out from the wall. "Psst." He started whispering. "Connie. Connie! It's me!"

After a few seconds, he saw from behind one of the columns against the wall a small head poke out. Just as he thought. The unmistakable blonde curls attached to an angelic face. Younger than he had expected, but that wasn't something out of the ordinary, or even something that either of them could help. Once she saw his face, she lit up like it was Christmas morning. He guessed that she hadn't been here before and was feeling very scared. "Nicky!" She cried, coming out from behind the column and covering herself with her hands. "I'm glad you're here."

"Hey there, Connie." Nicholas held his arms out and scooped her up. "You haven't been here long, have you?" She shook her head. "Good. Let's get going." He started to walk again.

"Um...Nick?" Connie spoke up.

"What's up?" Nicholas set her back down.

"Can I get dressed now, please?" She swung her shoulders back and forth, her hands behind her back.

Nicholas was always one to rush and forget certain details until they were right in his face, and he was lucky to notice them without someone telling him. But since Connie interjected, he was able to snap out of his tunnel vision and absorb the environment. There was absolutely nobody else in the halls, and any class that was in session had its door closed. It was a warm midday in May, so he didn't have a jacket to lend her. He certainly couldn't leave things to chance, so he nodded and said nervously, "Yeah. Sorry." He put down the duffel bag and went into action.

Unzipping the duffel bag revealed numerous sets of clothes. He had sets of clothes prepared for Connie at different ages. There were dresses for a little girl, shirts and shorts for a teenager, underwear for both sizes, and small clothes and diapers for if she ever came as an infant. Quickly pulling out her clothes, he helped her into a pair of underwear, a light blue dress and a pair of sandals. With her properly dressed, Nick grabbed her hand and led her to the elevators.

Apparently one of her friends from school came over and had brought a game that they told Connie was not scary at all. "Last time I believe him! All of a sudden, this monster breaks through the door, and I found myself on the floor of the bathroom here. They're so gross! If I find him going through my clothes when I get back..."

A guy walking around the college campus holding a little girl's hand was not something surprising. Students, depending on how old they were, brought their kids to school all the time. Passing her off as his little cousin was easy, so long as he didn't come across anyone who had seen her as either younger or older than she appeared now. Connie knew that it was okay to lie to them, since the idea of a chrono displaced person still hadn't reached the wide net of the public mind, and a cousin coming along with one to school was easier to believe than a little girl who spontaneously time travels.

Taking care of Connie has not been something Nicholas regretted ever since she first appeared to him. He couldn't tell you the reason why she came to him, but he's sure there's some significance to her constant appearances, and it just hasn't come up yet. Thus far, he only sees her when she travels, popping in at different points, convenient at some times and somewhat inconvenient at others. Nicholas was always gifted with the patience of a saint, his mother would say, which made him appear very friendly to others, and it's something that's really helped Connie whenever she freaked out after traveling. As far as Connie's known, he's always been there to help with a firm hug, and a bag of clothes for her to wear.

The first time they met each other, Nicholas was another 15 year old boy desperately seeking purpose in life. He was escorting his mother around the local store one weekend in April, since she promised him she'd buy him a new game by the time they were done. This required, of course, a trip with his mother, something any 15 year old boy is embarrassed to do. She didn't tell him that he'd get it right away, so having to stand around while his mother looked at shirt after shirt before putting them back on the rack got tiring after a few minutes. After telling her that he'd go on ahead to electronics to mull his options, he began walking out of the clothing section and was some distance away from his mother when he began to hear something.

Sniffling, and short gasps of breath, as if someone was crying. While other boys his age would dismiss it and keep going, Nicholas was the curious sort. He looked around where he stood, trying to track down the noise, but couldn't seem to find where it was coming from. It wasn't anyone near the wall, and he wouldn't be hearing it if it was coming from the dressing rooms. Then, an idea struck him. He came to a part of the section littered with circular racks full of large shirts. Now the crying noises started coming in clearer, particularly the one in the middle. Moving closer to it slowly and quietly, he divided a part in the shirts just as slowly.

That's when he saw her; A little girl, sitting down on the floor, curled up and completely naked. Her hair was a short curly blonde, and she looked like she had been crying for some time, her face red and soaked with tears. Many questions were running through his head: Whose kid is this? Why is she naked? And most importantly, how did no one else notice she was here? He was hoping she'd tell him, but he had to get somewhere else first; talking to a lost and distraught little girl with no clothes on required privacy. When she finally noticed him standing over her, her eyes went wide and ready to run. "Wait. Calm down." He whispered to her when he saw her getting up. "I'm not gonna hurt you." He took off the jacket he was wearing and placed it over her shoulders like a cloak. "See? Let's get you somewhere better."

Putting one arm around her shoulders and picking her up with the other, he moved stealthily through the racks on his way to the dressing rooms that weren't too far from where they were. He only got a couple of looks from people, but that was more likely for him looking like he was in some sort of spy movie than it was for the barefoot girl in the jacket. No questions either, which was also nice. Passing the doorway for the dressing rooms, a sign stated that any dressing rooms not in use needed to be kept open. Nicholas already knew this, and darted to the closest open door. Placing her on the seat inside, he quickly turned to close and lock the door.

"All right. Hard part's over." He thought out loud. "You okay?" A small "Mm-hmm" was all she could muster. "My name's Nicholas. How about you? What's your name?" He spoke a little fast, body full of adrenaline from the unusual situation before him.

"Connie."

"Connie. That's a cute name." He thought that complimenting her would help calm her down a little more. "So what happened to you? Where are your clothes?"

"I don't know." She gave a straightforward response, but it wasn't exactly an answer.

"Okay. Where are your parents?"

"I don't know." Now, it was getting weird, and asking her about things she didn't know the answer to was not making the situation any easier. She brought her legs up to the seat and curled up, ready to start crying again.

"Okay, okay. Don't cry. I'm sorry." He didn't know what he was apologizing for, but it seemed to help, as she looked up at him. He scratched his head as he tried to think of what could possibly lead to a girl being stranded in the middle of a huge store stark naked. Was she abandoned here by her parents? Did she wander off and get lost in the middle of changing clothes? Is she a victim of some kidnapping ring? Nicholas' imagination was starting to run wild, and at that point, he decided that the best thing to do would be to get her something to wear other than his jacket. "Listen. I want you to stay right here, I'm gonna go out and get you some clothes. Don't open this door for anyone but me. I'll tell you when it's me, okay?" Connie responded by nodding her head.

Being near the clothing section of the store was rather convenient to find something Connie could wear. A large shirt would've been enough if they were anywhere else, but if he was going to help her find her parents, she would need something a little more inconspicuous. First thing on his list was to get her some underwear. She looked to be about five, so he wouldn't need to go too far. He didn't need to dart around people this time, but he still needed to quicken his pace. He was in Women's Clothes, and he needed to get to the young girl's section.

Judging from all the pink on the stands, Nicholas had reached the section he needed. However, the fact that he was acting without thinking thoroughly had finally caught up to him when he got to the underwear: They were all in 4-pair packages. He only needed one pair, but he couldn't just tear open one of them to get it. He'd be caught for sure, and how would he be able to explain the situation? He considered just taking the package and leaving the torn plastic in the dressing room. Act as if someone else just took it. Listen to yourself, Nick! He thought. You're thinking about stealing! He didn't have the time for a moral decision. He trusted that Connie would stay in the stall, but any number of things could happen in the time it took him to find something.

He paced about scratching his head, trying to think of an alternate plan when he happened upon one. A couple of stands away stood a rack of one-piece swimsuits, supported on hangers. Grabbing a purple swimsuit, the most difficult hurdle was jumped. From there, he quickly grabbed a blue skirt and a small white shirt before running as quickly as he could to Shoes to pick up a pair of sandals. Seeing someone running in a store isn't that unusual, which Nicholas was thankful for, because it meant that no one would ask questions and he could get back to the dressing room with no more interruptions.

"Connie, it's Nicholas." He knocked on the door to the stall. "Could you open the door?" It took a couple of seconds, but the door opened outwards to show Connie, now with the jacket zipped up and her arms through the sleeves. "Hey there. How are we doing?" She nodded, the red from her face finally fading as she had stopped crying. "You're doing great, sweetie. Now let's get you dressed." Connie was very cooperative as Nicholas slipped on everything he managed to find. "Sorry if the tags are bugging you, but we'll get in trouble if we take those off without paying. It's better than going around in your birthday suit, right?" Connie looked slightly confused at the term, apparently never having heard it before. Nicholas paid it no mind and offered his hand to her.

Nicholas felt that he could breathe a little easier now, but he knew that he was only through half of his troubles for the day. Taking a firm hold of Connie's hand, they began walking through the store to look for anyone that Connie might recognize. It was then that she noticed something unusual. She began looking in one direction, towards the door that lead to the Nursery. "What's the matter?" Nicholas asked. "You think your mom or dad might be there?" Her question, however, was one that Nicholas didn't see coming at all.

"Why is the sun back out?"

"Huh?"

"It's close to bedtime. That means the moon's out. Why is it sunny?"

"Connie...it's 3:30. It's practically the middle of the day."

"What? But..." She looked very confused, and so was Nicholas. What did she mean by "It's close to bedtime"? That would mean that it was nighttime the last time she got a look outside. Did that mean that she really was kidnapped in her sleep? What was he getting himself into? He tried not to look too worried for her sake, and she seemed quite preoccupied with this new information, so he thought it would be better to keep looking around.

It had been half an hour before they finally came back around to Women's Clothing. He still didn't understand what she meant by the fact that it was evening the last time she checked. Connie was getting very restless as well, and Nicholas wondered how much longer they would be able to look before his mother called his phone, asking where he was. Then, it finally hit him. This whole time, he was looking by himself. If his mother could help, maybe they could find her parents sooner. He got Connie to stand up and began walking through the different racks, hoping his mother was still there. Sure enough, she was still nose-deep in the sales rack.

"Nicky!" She responded upon seeing him. "I was just about to go to Electronics, and..." She looked down. "Who's this? Are those store tags?"

"Mom, if you'll just give me a moment to talk, I promise everything I'm going to tell you will be true."

After giving as shortened a version of the past events as he could, his mother just looked at him as if he was a parent explaining where babies come from. "Why didn't you just go to the front desk or one of the cashiers?" She finally asked. "They could use the PA system and see if anyone's lost their kid."

"I was worried I'd get in trouble if I came up to them and they saw the tags. If not that, they'd wonder what I was doing with a little girl in only a jacket. If they suspected something, they might have the whole place locked down!" His mother shot him the same look she usually does whenever he blows something out of proportion, to which Nicholas responded by keeping his tone down. "I just wanted to help her as quietly as possible."

"Well, better you came to me than to continue trying half-cocked." His mother said. "I'm sure they'd be more willing to believe me if I just explain that I found her in one of the dressing rooms. Now come on, sweet..." She kneeled down and paused suddenly. "Where'd she go?"

It was then that Nicholas noticed that he wasn't holding Connie's hand anymore. Looking next to him, he found all the clothes that he got for Connie, but no Connie wearing them. After arguing on what happened as silently as possible, so as not to disturb the other shoppers, they both try to write it off as one of the strangest events they'd ever witnessed.

That night, he decided to look up just what might have been that little girl. Running a search "sudden disappearance" "time discrepancy" and "lack of clothes", he finally ran into an article from a "strange science" website regarding what came to be known as "Chrono Displacement Disorder".

There's been some research done since then, but no treatment has been made yet. Regardless, Nicholas has learned to adapt to Connie's sudden appearances, the duffle bag full of clothes for one thing. There's also been support from others, like his parents, and those who have stuck with him since finding out about Connie. People like...

"Mike!" Nicholas shouted when he saw another familiar face at one of the food courts on campus, saving a table for the both of them just like he said he would.

"Done with the test already, Nick?" Michael smiled. "Did you double check your answers?"

"Yes, Mother." Nicholas joked. "It's a good thing I finished when I did, too. She showed up on the same floor, if you can believe that. She wasn't there too long before I noticed her, though."

"Hey, Connie." Michael greeted her. "Last time I saw you, you were about this high." He raised his hand up to about Nicholas' nose.

Connie and Nicholas both rolled their eyes. "When are you gonna stop making that joke?" Nicholas asked.

"When you stop reacting to it." Michael stood up and gave Nicholas a kiss. "Besides, you shouldn't act like it was never funny."

Nicholas gave a sour face, but then smiled. "Okay, but it was only funny the first three times. And that's only because you switched it up last time."

"I'll take that victory." He sat back down at the table, along with Connie and Nicholas. Connie had a club sandwich from the school cafe, while Nicholas and Michael helped themselves to burgers from another joint. After eating, Connie busied herself playing on Michael's handheld system while Nicholas and Michael had time to themselves before either of them had another class.

Eventually, 45 minutes passed, and it was time for Nicholas' next class. After packing up their stuff, Michael saw them off while Nicholas held Connie's hand and started walking towards the Science building. Connie started to get drowsy halfway through, so Nicholas elected to carry her the rest of the way. Nicholas knew what it meant when she started to get sleepy, so before going into the building itself, he stopped at one of its walls and sat against it. As soon as her breathing relaxed, she vanished, leaving her clothes in his lap. Smiling with relief, Nicholas packed the clothes back into the duffel bag, stood up and proceeded with the rest of the school day.

People often asked him about the bag. Nicholas wishes he can tell them that it's for someone else, but it's enough to know there are people who know and don't mind. As long as they're there, he was happy. As long as Connie can come to someone as dependable as him, he could always sprout a little joy in his heart whenever he sees her. That was all he needed.


	3. Five Souls (1)

**Wow. I did not think it would be so long since I would update this again. I'm so sorry to keep you all waiting. To make up for it, I have an extra long chapter introducing another arc. I thank you all for the views, the reviews and the favorites. So with that, I hope you enjoy this new one.**

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It felt like such a small sensation. So small, he barely noticed it. It was the kind of sensation you feel when you believe you remember something. When your brain can't help but reset itself and you suddenly have a clear mind. It was almost the feeling of deja-vu, or the kind of clarity felt when waking up from a dream. It certainly felt like he woke up from a dream. His chest was pounding, and he found himself breathing heavily, like he finally surfaced to take a breath out of the water. He wasn't swimming, however, and he was sure he wasn't dreaming before he found himself where he is now.

The little boy looked around himself. The ceiling was so high and made with wooden boards. The walls were decorated with paintings, a mounted shield with two swords behind it. There was a table with intricate wooden legs polished to look like they were shining. A large television lay inside a larger cabinet. He then noticed he was lying on a rug with a design featuring curved lines overlapping each other to create an amazing picture. Wherever he was, this place was a palace in comparison to his own home. But that begged the question: Why was he here?

He slowly got himself upright and tried calling out for his mother and father. No response was heard. He was becoming frightened, as the realization that he might be stuck here began to sink in. It wasn't a bad place to be, but it wasn't his home. It wasn't where all his toys and games were. It wasn't where his parents were. Standing around crying about the situation wasn't going to help him. Perhaps there was someone inside this spacious home who could help him.

He began his journey by going through the nearest doorway, which turned out to be the foyer. Here, a staircase nearly encircled the room leading up to the house's second floor. The stairs themselves were covered by a blue carpet, kept to the steps with brass bars. Other than more rugs, a small table with a vase of flowers in it, and the door that looked like it led outside, there wasn't much else that gave him any clues. He thought to open the door and look outside to give him an idea of where he was, when he passed by a mirror next to the door. His reflection passing by it was what called his attention to it, and he would have paid it no mind, if he didn't notice he wasn't wearing any clothes.

The boy froze. The mirror wasn't tricking him as he looked down on himself. His short blonde hair and every other feature on his body was correct, but he was no longer wearing his T-shirt and pajama bottoms that he knew he had. He was wearing them because he didn't feel well that morning, and his mother thought it best to let him stay home. Discovering this, he thought it was better to stay inside the house and find something to wear.

He started walking through the doorway to his right, passing by a lavish dining room, through another passageway that led into the kitchen. Still no people to be found, he was beginning to wonder if anyone lived here. He was only six, so the idea of a house with many things in it but no people living there sounded like it made sense. Everything in the kitchen looked way too delicate to touch, and his parents always warned him about touching things that might break easily, so he refrained from doing anything and thought to continue his search. When...

A sudden noise coming from his right immediately caught his attention. Like a clambering of something trying to move. It could be someone else who's here that he missed. Or _something._ Moving slowly and carefully, he found that the noise was coming from the bathroom, as he could tell from the picture of the toilet on the nearly closed door.

Once he came to the door, the noises stopped. In their place, he heard a slight shuffling. Whatever or whoever was in there, he wasn't going to find out unless he opened the door. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The bathroom looked as nice as the rest of the house. Old fashioned everything, from the wallpaper to the sink and the mirror. But his attention wasn't on the decor. It was on the woman lying on the floor of the bathroom. She had long chestnut hair that reached the middle of her back. She was definitely older than he was, probably around the age of his cousins who were away at college. He couldn't glean any other details from her, other than that for some reason she was lying on the floor completely naked. The boy had to make sure she was also alive. If she was, maybe she could tell him where he was and how to get out.

He stepped carefully towards the woman's body, taking in the view. He didn't have any siblings, so seeing a naked young woman was definitely a new experience for him. He was tempted to touch any part that looked foreign to him, but his parents had been teaching him the importance of manners lately, especially when it came to girls.

_I should try to wake her up_, he thought. Bracing himself for anything for a few seconds, he gently shook the women by her shoulder. To his relief, she began to stir awake. She opened her eyes, the color of coffee, and began to get up, groaning a little, like she had just been napping.

"Shoot." She grumbled after looking around. "I must've gone right before I got to bed." She then noticed the boy looking at her. She blinked a couple of times, narrowed her eyes, and then brought out a bright smile. "Brian? Is that you, Brian?"

The boy took a step back. "How do you know my name?" He had never met this woman before, so for her to know his name was incredibly frightening for him.

"Oh." The woman brought her hand to her face, looking like she accidentally insulted him. "I guess we haven't met yet." She saw that he was clearly scared. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Morgan."

"Where am I?"

"Um…" Morgan looked. "I'm going to need to see more of this place. I can't quite remember." She stood up, revealing that Brian only came up her to her thighs. "I don't mind being like this, but if someone else is here, it'd be a problem with the both of us being naked." Brian blushed at the reminder that he had no clothes on, to which Morgan only gave a short giggle.

Closing the bathroom door, Morgan found a long blue robe on a hook. "This is perfect for me." She quickly slipped it on and tied the sash. "And we can use this for you." She walked over to the other side of the bathroom and pulled a blue towel off from the bar. The towel covered his whole body as he held it like a shawl over his shoulders.

"Ready?" Morgan asked. Brian nodded in response. "Up we go." Carrying him in her arms, the two went off to the foyer. "Hmm…yeah, I do remember seeing this place. Whose house was this, again?" She scratched her head in irritation.

"Um…excuse me. Morgan?" Brian asked, finding his voice again.

"What is it?"

"Where did my clothes go?"

"Oh, I see." Morgan said, looking like she finally got something. "Don't worry about those. You were at home before you were here, right?" Brian nodded. "So you'll get them back when you go back. You're not stuck here forever, it's okay."

"What happened to me?"

"Well, you see, what happened is…" A sudden noise and the shouting of "Ow!" distracted the both of them. "Now who could that be?" Morgan looked to the left and started in that direction, with Brian in tow. The hallway to the left led into what appeared to be a study.

There were a couple of bookshelves against the walls stocked with very big books. The carpet was short and attached to the floor, as opposed to the rugs that were placed on the wooden floor in the rest of the house. On one edge of the room, was a large wooden desk, full of papers and pens scattered about the top. In the center was a boy, older than Brian but younger than Morgan, on his back. He had short brown hair, and like Brian and Morgan were, had no clothes on at all.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked the new boy, helping him stand up.

"Just once, I'd like to land on something soft when this happens." He said. "Sorry for intruding…" He stopped in the middle of his sentence when he noticed who he was looking at. "M-Morgan? You're here too?" His face flushed as he covered himself.

Morgan smiled. "Nice to see you too, Andrew. How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen." The boy named Andrew. "What about you?"

"Twenty-two, and I'm doing well, thank you for asking."

Andrew finally noticed Morgan holding Brian. "Who's this?"

Morgan chuckled. "You don't recognize him, Andrew? It's Brian!"

"Brian?!" He answered, extremely surprised. Brian wasn't sure if his reaction was a good one or a bad one, but Andrew's shock caused him to huddle closer to Morgan. "Sorry, dude. Did I scare you? How old are you?"

"Six and a half…" Brian answered nervously.

"I think this is his first traveling." Morgan added in a hushed tone.

"Oh. Well, aren't you the lucky one? You get to be with us!" Andrew patted Brian lightly on the head. These two people were very weird to Brian, but they were helping him, so they couldn't be that bad.

"Do you recognize this place?" Morgan asked. "It's on the tip of my tongue, but it's been a while since I was here last, so I forgot who it belongs to."

"Hmm…" Andrew looked around the room. "Nope. First time I'm seeing all of this."

"Shoot. Back to square one, then." Morgan sighed. "The only thing to do now is keep looking around. Let's get going."

"Wait! Can I get something to wear first?" Andrew asked frantically.

"Oh, right." Morgan laughed.

"Quit laughing!" Andrew shouted. "Just because you're comfy being naked doesn't mean the rest of us are." Andrew's attention changed to the coat rack in the corner behind Morgan. Skimming through the various coats and jackets, Andrew found something unusual. He pulled out a hanger, upon which hung a pajama set, a buttoned top and stringed bottoms. "What's this doing here?"

"Someone probably hung it there on accident." Morgan guessed. "It works for us, though."

"Yeah. I can use these." Andrew put on the pajama bottoms. "I'm sure this will be much better than the towel you're wearing right now." He held the shirt up to Brian, who just noticed he was being spoken to. "I'll help you." Andrew was right; the shirt was much more comfortable than the towel, though Andrew did have to roll up the sleeves quite a bit.

"Can you walk in that?" Morgan asked. The shirt was longer than Brian was tall. Brian tried walking, but nearly tripped on the third step, when Morgan picked him up again. "It's okay."

Andrew crossed his arms. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"How can I not?" Morgan said excitedly. "There's no telling when I'm going to see him at this adorable age again." She rubbed Brian's head, which embarrassed him greatly.

"How do you know me?" Brian found his voice again.

"You haven't told him yet, Morgan?"

"I was going to, but you interrupted when you came in."

"Well, sorry!" Andrew shouted in a sarcastic tone. "I'll remember to schedule my time traveling to somewhere more convenient!"

"Time traveling?" That was the one part of the sentence Brian didn't understand.

"That's right!" Morgan touched Brian's nose. "Right now, we're somewhere in either the past or the future." They began walking back towards the foyer.

"How did I do that?"

It was Andrew's turn to speak. "Well, you know how your relatives will say you got your father's eyes, or your mother's hair?" Brian nodded. "It's kind of the same thing. It's something you've had since you were born. There really isn't a way to control it…"

"And anything you had on you stays behind, so every time you travel, you're naked as a jaybird!" Morgan added.

"Every time?" Brian asked, getting scared.

"It's okay, so long as you find cover, and it's not too warm or cold." Andrew was trying to calm him down. "You eventually go back after a while."

"I know it's scary, Brian." Morgan spoke up. "But so long as you're not afraid, it won't become a problem." They started up the stairs in the foyer.

"Besides, you got us!" Andrew exclaimed.

"Who are you guys?" Brian was relieved to get answers about what happened to him, but he still didn't know these people.

"Sorry. We felt we had to explain the time travel thing first." Morgan answered. "We're your friends…or at least we will be, in the future. Your future."

"You guys are my friends?"

"I don't want to tell you too much, but you will help us out quite a bit."

"Maybe it's because you met us here first. You knew who I was when I first met you." Andrew said.

It was that point in the conversation that they reached the second floor of the house. The only thing that was in front of them was a wide hallway and more doors. Some were open, some were not.

"So…which room first?" Morgan placed herself at the head of the group.

Brian looked carefully. The first room to their right was slightly open. From what he could see, it was a bedroom, since the bed was in plain sight; a large green quilt placed on top. The shape made it look large and rounded, but it didn't move, and Brian had to convince himself that it was likely just pillows underneath. "Let's look in that one first." He pointed to the door.

Entering the room revealed that it was smaller than they expected. Other than the bed, there was a nightstand, a tall cabinet, and a sliding door closet. Much of the room had the same color scheme of green and brown. On top of the nightstand was a digital clock, which seemed to stand out amongst all of the old-fashioned furniture.

"1 o'clock." Morgan said out loud. "Odd time for everyone to be out of the house."

Just as she said that, a noise next to them attracted their full attention. The mound underneath the sheets on the bed started moving and a moaning could be heard. The mound moved towards the front end of the bed started to rise. When the blanket fell over, they could see the head of another girl pop out. Her hair was a short black color, cut almost like a bowl cut. She looked to be a little younger than Andrew.

The girl yawned and opened her eyes. "Huh? What are you all doing in my room?"

Morgan laughed. "I don't think you have a room this nice, Tina."

"What? Morgan?" The girl called Tina rubbed her eyes and looked around. "This isn't my room. That means…" She quickly looked under the blanket. "Darn it."

"I've never heard of anyone traveling under bed covers before…" Andrew wondered aloud.

"I didn't. I thought I fell out of bed and went into this one without thinking." She took a closer look at the others. "Are you guys all traveling from different times?"

Morgan nodded. "Andrew's sixteen. I'm twenty-two. And Brian here…" She lifted him slightly. "…is on his first time travel at six."

"I thought that this was Brian." Tina smiled and looked at Brian. "There's no mistaking that face."

"You know me, too?"

"I will, when you get a little older."

"How old are you?" Andrew asked.

"Twelve." Tina answered. "Can I get something to wear now? What's in that closet?"

Morgan walked over and slid open the door. Inside the closet was an assortment of old looking clothes: Blouses, button-up shirts and a few nightgowns.

"These look like stuff my grandma wears." Andrew sniffed closely. "Smell like them, too."

"You sure you wanna wear these, Tina?" Morgan asked.

"Just hand me one of the nightgowns. I don't care. I'd just like to not be naked." Tina took the nightgown and dove under the covers with it. After a few seconds of shuffling, Tina emerged from under the covers, the nightgown barely touching the floor.

"By the way, Tina...would you happen to know where we are?" Morgan asked.

"Hmm…" Tina took a look out the door and around the hallway. "Isn't this Flo's grandpa's house?"

"Ah!" Morgan shouted. "That's it! It's been a long time. You'd think I'd remember a place this fancy looking."

"All this time, and you still have the worst memory out of all of us. How did you live to be that old?"

"I'm just lucky, I guess." Morgan answered with a big smile on her face.

"Whatever." Tina scratched her head. "Since we're all gathered and covered, what do you want to do?"

"Well, we can always wait in the main room for the old man to show up." Morgan suggested. "I want to see the look on his face when he sees all of us here."

"That's assuming we're in a time where he knows all of us." Andrew interjected. "Because if not, he's gonna have a completely different face than the one you're thinking."

"We won't know if we keep talking here. Besides, we're a bunch of kids…and me. If he sees us just relaxing and watching TV, he'll be surprised, but I don't think he'd be angry if we try to explain ourselves."

"Then we better hope he listens..."

Going back downstairs, the group headed in the direction that was the most familiar to Brian: the room he first found himself in. Everyone was able to fit on the couch, with Brian sitting on Tina's lap while Morgan walked up to the large cabinet on the other side of the room and opened it to reveal a big screen TV. He'd never seen one so big.

"Judging by the looks of this TV…" Morgan said, looking over it carefully. "I'd say we're in a time he knows us."

"You're judging it by the TV?" Andrew asked skeptically.

"Technology's a good way to tell the age. That's especially important for us. Have you forgotten how rich the old man is? Why wouldn't have the latest stuff?"

"Could always be a different relative who wanted this. What if they're the ones who own the property?"

"Would you quit being a worrywart?"

"We randomly appear in different places naked! How do you not worry?!"

While Andrew and Morgan were arguing, Brian's attention turned elsewhere. There was a door that seemed to lead to the outside with a window in the top half. For a brief moment, he swore he could see someone looking inside. A face attached to a full head of curly red hair. Once the face noticed him looking, it immediately ducked out of sight.

"Who's that?" He asked out loud, gaining the notice of Morgan and Andrew.

"Who was what?" Morgan asked.

"There was someone at that door."

"Now who would be hiding out there?" Morgan walked over to the door and opened it. There seemed to be no one behind it, prompting her to look to the left and right, noticing something once she did. She let out a sound between a squeak and a scream, scaring Brian. "Florence!" She called out. "There you are!" Brian could then hear somebody talking, but it was so soft, he couldn't make out the words. Morgan only nodded and said, "Wait right there," before walking back into the foyer and up the stairs.

"Whew. Talk about lucky." Andrew rubbed his head. "Now that she's here, if one of her relatives shows up, she can vouch for us."

Tina sighed. "There wasn't anything to worry about in the first place, Andrew."

"Sure, if you explained something to a stranger, they'll help you. But one look at me and I'm likely to get killed."

"You're free to be wary, Andrew." Morgan came back, holding what seemed to be a bundle of clothes. "Just don't let that keep you from enjoying things." She handed the bundle to a pair of hands Brian could see peeking from the other side of the wall. After a few seconds, a girl walked into the house, dressed in a pink shirt and a jean skirt. She looked to be slightly older than him.

"Hi, Florence. You living here right now?" Andrew asked.

The girl named Florence nodded. "This is the week I get to spend here. I'm glad to see you guys. I'm sorry we didn't have any clothes out for all of you."

"Don't sweat it, Flo." Morgan replied. "We made do with what was here. So, where were you?"

"I was visiting…" Florence's voice trailed off as soon as her eyes met Brian's. "Brian?" He felt no other compulsion but to nod. "Hi, Brian!" She came up close to him, causing him to fidget and audibly whimper.

"Don't get too close." Andrew advised. "This is his first time. He doesn't know any of us yet."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Florence immediately apologized. "I'm Florence. I'm nine this year." She held up nine of her fingers. "Have you been okay so far?" Brian nodded. "Good. Why don't we watch some TV until you go back?"

They managed to find a basketball game to watch, as it was the only one everyone agreed was appropriate that wouldn't drive the older ones insane. Morgan brought juice from out of the fridge in the kitchen, and Florence found some food to snack on while they watched. While he was in a strange place dressed only in a large shirt, Brian felt at ease. These people told him they'd formally meet sometime in his future, he already felt like he had known them for a very long time.

After about a half hour, the front door creaked open. "Florence? Are you out and about now?" Called an old man's voice from the foyer. He stepped into the main room, dressed…just like how one would expect a grandfather to dress. Most of his hair was still on his head, quite white with age. "Oh…my…" He had noticed how many people were in the house. "I wish I knew when I would be receiving guests."

"Sorry." Morgan came up to the old man and gave him a hug. "I hope we're not causing too much trouble."

"Did you break anything?"

"No." Everyone responded.

"Then, it's fine." The old man smiled. "Have we been a good host, Florence?"

"I…kinda traveled before they all came here." Florence sheepishly had her hands behind her back. "When I got back, I was in the backyard and they let me in."

"Well, we're lucky these are people we know. I have to say, though," He adjusted his glasses. "I don't believe I've seen all of you come to this one point in time all at once."

"You haven't?" Morgan asked.

"It's quite an interesting sight. I should write this down."

"While you're at it, why don't you write down that this is Brian's first travel?" Morgan lifted Brian from the couch and handed him to the old man.

"Oh, is this Brian?" He asked. "Hello there."

"Hi." Was all Brian could say.

"I hope we get to become acquainted very soon, Brian. I know you'll become friends with all these fine people soon."

"Really?"

"Yes! In fact, I…" But the old man's words were cut off when Brian suddenly felt that same rush in his head that he felt when he first came to the house. After holding still and blinking a few times, Brian found himself looking at the ceiling of his own room. Feeling the room's carpet underneath him, he got back on his feet, and found his pajamas waiting for him on his bed.

As he put his clothes back on, he wondered to himself about what he just experienced. It was all quite a bit to take in, but if it meant he had friends, it was good enough for him. He got so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't notice the blanket was missing until he got on his bed. It was also then that he noticed the sounds of eating. Looking behind him, he found his blanket bunched around someone with familiar looking chestnut hair, except she was a lot smaller. She turned to face him, face full of bread crumbs from the toast Brian's mother left for him.

"Hi!"

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**And that's the chapter. I would appreciate any questions or comments you guys have. I'm thinking of continuing the Abigail and Phillip story with something I've been thinking of. I'll see you on the next update.**


	4. Phillip and Abigail (2)

(Abigail is 8, Phillip is 9)

A Halloween party wasn't something Phillip thought was common. Up until now, whenever Halloween came around, he'd go around the neighborhood with his mother and sister, while his father stayed to pass out candy. When his mother told him to get into his costume, he was prepared to walk out into the neighborhood just like every year, but when the family started to get into the car, he was understandably confused.

They weren't even going to a relative's house. Apparently, his mother told him and his sister that they were going to a party at an old friend of his father's. They reminded him of this, and to pay better attention when things are said at the dinner table. It set in that he wasn't going to know anybody at the party and that this wouldn't be a fun party. It was too late for him to reject the idea. He was already dressed and in the car.

During the trip, his parents were chatting about how nice it was to see him back in the area after he left the state once he graduated college. He did take notice of the streets they passed. Ever since he first traveled, he learned to recognize any street signs or buildings if he was ever outside. It had yet to be bad advice, and at this point, he knows the way to his grandpa's house, his aunt's house, and the local shelter for clothes.

The house wasn't that far from his either. At least by car, anyway. He'd probably be dead tired if he tried walking the whole way, but it took a total of 10 minutes to drive to this house from his. There were already a lot of cars parked outside. The house certainly looked big enough to hold a lot of people, so he wasn't worried about space. Now, all he was worried about was what kind of people would be there.

Finding a place to park, Phillip stepped out in his makeshift cowboy outfit, made out of a blue plaid shirt, a red bandana tied around his neck, his normal blue jeans, a cowboy hat and matching boots, and a gold star pinned on his shirt that read "SHERIFF" in black. Walking in the boots was the hardest part about the costume, since he had to step with his whole foot to avoid tripping. He had some practice in the days before, on the suggestion of his sister. The practice seemed to work on even ground, but once they got on the asphalt of the street, he had trouble keeping upright, prompting his mother to hold his hand and walk with him up to the front door, much to his embarrassment.

A rather tall guy greeted them at the door, dressed like the Frankenstein monster. He was so tall that Phillip nearly had to crane his neck up to see his face. It took Phillip a little by surprise, but the man sported a big smile when he saw Phillip's father.

"Well, there you are, man!" The Frankenstein shouted. "I thought you got lost or something."

"It wasn't that hard to find. Technically, I've been in this area longer than you." Retorted Phillip's father.

"Whatever. You're here, and that's awesome." The man's focus then turned to the family. "This is a nice setup. You've aged well." He said to Phillip's mother.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a compliment. Take it." The man turned to his sister. "Aren't you pretty?" Phillip's sister was dressed like a vampire, complete with make-up and dark purple dress. She only shook his hand with a smile and a nod.

The man finally looked down at Phillip. "And here's the little cowboy himself! Put 'er there, pilgrim!" His hand engulfed Phillip's and he felt like his whole body was being shaken just by this man's hand.

The inside was bustling with people in many different costumes. There didn't seem to be a single person that didn't have a cup, a plate of food or both in their hands. Phillip had to be really careful he didn't bump into anyone. "Mind your manners." His mother reminded him.

His mother stopped holding his hand once they reached a woman with a long white dress, and hair the shape of a black beehive with a white streak through it. She seemed to recognize his mother, given how she threw her arms around her upon seeing her. "So glad you could make it!" She shouted.

"Well, when we say we'll be there, we do our best to mean it. You know that." His mother responded.

"And I'm glad that's still true today."

"Mom!" A voice shouted from behind the woman. Phillip's heart stopped. He thought he was going crazy, hearing that voice. Looking to the side of the woman, he could see a girl dressed up in a very pretty blue dress. Her straight black hair was done up in two pigtails, giving that fairy tale princess look. She didn't see Phillip, she was already looking up at her mother. "We need to get more chips!"

"We do? That was fast!"

"Is this your little girl?" Phillip's mother asked.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I couldn't find her when you came. This is..."

"Phillip?" The woman was interrupted by her daughter, who came up close to Phillip. There was no mistaking those eyes.

"Hi, Abigail." He smiled. She nearly knocked him down when she hugged him. Abigail's words seemed to string together and he could barely understand her, but he figured she was just happy to see him.

Both of their mothers stood agape. "I..guess you already know each other?" Abigail's mother asked.

Phillip's mother just smiled at him, bent down to his level, and asked quietly, "Is this the friend you told me about?" Phillip nodded.

"Mom, it's Phil! I told you about him, remember?" Abigail asked her mother. She came upon the realization, and knocked her forehead lightly with her palm. She apologized, saying that everything's been busy and she forgot. "Can we go hang out in my room? Please?" Abigail finally asked.

"Sure." Her mother answered. "Better to get away from all the noise."

"Thank you!" Abigail took Phillip's hand and nearly dragged him through the house, the party guests suddenly needing to watch their space for these two children barreling through. It was only a short trip to her room, the first door on the left of a hallway right next to the front door. The room was a basic one, outfitted with a large bed, a desk with a mirror, a cabinet with a TV on top, and a sliding closet.

"Isn't it cool? We finally get to see each other!" Abigail was beaming.

"I know. It feels weird to actually meet each other with our clothes on." Phillip's face flushed after he said that, wondering why he didn't think before saying it.

Abigail only laughed. "Right? And look at this!" She lifted the dress slightly so that she could spin around. "Don't I look good? And my hair's up! Mom said that since we'd be inside the house, she doesn't have to worry about these getting lost if I travel!"

"That's good. You look so happy."

"Why not? I get to dress all pretty, and you showed up! And I know it's not because you traveled here!"

"Yup." Phillip smiled. "I bet I look stupid."

"I think you look nice. You look ready to save people from bandits."

"Thanks. I'm...glad I came here." Phillip shifted nervously. "Can I...sit on the bed? These boots are hurting my feet." Abigail responded with a nod, allowing Phillip to sit down on the bed and take off his boots, with some added effort by Abigail.

"So...do your parents know about what you can do?" Abigail asked once they were both sitting down.

"Well, I didn't tell them after that first time. I wasn't going to tell them because I wasn't sure how I was going to explain it. But then..."

"Did something happen?"

Back in the living room, Phillip's and Abigail's mothers were busy discussing the conditions of their children.

"Phillip was always the shy sort, but he seemed different after he told me he made a friend. He was very vague about it, too." Phillip's mother said.

"Well, it's always hard to tell your parents when something strange like that's happened. At least you had the courtesy of him knowing what happened."

"Yeah. And he was so upset when the rest of us found out about it. He thought I was going to ground him or something!"

"Oh? He didn't tell you? How'd you find out?" Abigail's mother was ready to hear an interesting story.

"Well...a few months ago, we went to the movies. Nice family thing to do, and Phillip gets scared easily, but he seems to know the difference between what's on a screen and what's in front of you."

"I think I already know where this is going..."

"We went to see...oh, I forget what it was, but it was a superhero movie. And there came a part where there was a flash of something. It was one of those stupid 'jump scares' directors like to put in for a cheap reaction. We were all taken by surprise, and I was sitting right next to Phillip, so I checked to see if he was okay, and..."

"All you found were his clothes?"

Phillip's mother nodded. "Mm-hmm. You wouldn't believe how scared I was. We almost had the movie stopped so we could look for him. Thomas had a flashlight on his phone, so he was busy searching the aisles for him."

Phillip was telling the same story in Abigail's room. "I think I traveled to the park nearby my grandpa's house. It was really early too, because it was really cold."

"Oh no..." Abigail reacted.

"That park doesn't have any bushes either, so I had to hide behind the trees. Bad thing about that is that the park's surrounded by houses. Anyone could have come out to get the paper and see me naked. I thought I'd die of embarrassment."

"What happened next?"

"I wasn't done suffering yet. Just as I thought I heard someone, I traveled back. I opened my eyes, and I was in the bathroom of the movie theater."

"Well, that's not a bad place to..."

"The girl's bathroom."

"Oh..." That was Abigail's only reaction until she thought about it. "Wait. Why's that bad? You couldn't help it."

"Tell that to all the women in there screaming. I bolted out of there, hoping I could make it back to where everyone else was. But one of the theater people caught me."

"A whole ten minutes passed, and we hear our last name being called over the PA system, telling us to 'please pick up your son' and 'bring him some clothes.'" Phillip's mother concluded. "Apparently, the theater had dealt with something like this before. They were very cooperative, which was a blessing. Now we know to bring him sunglasses and to not be so close to the screen next time."

"I missed most of the movie because of that." Phillip looked down. "The worst part about it was how my Mom was. I couldn't tell if she was angry or scared. I think she was both; she was screaming, hugging me and crying. I had to tell her what happened after that."

"Did she believe you?" Abigail asked.

"She did. After seeing all that, she kind of had to. I don't know if I'll ever get to go to the movies again, but knowing that I can accidentally travel, I don't mind not going."

"At least you knew what was going on when your parents found out." Abigail said solemnly.

"What do you mean by that?"

In the kitchen, Phillip's father Thomas and Abigail's father were also talking about their kids. "You think it's bad having a son who's got CD? Try having a daughter." Abigail's father Arthur told Thomas.

"I can only imagine. How did you find out?"

After a few seconds, Arthur sighed. "In nearly the worst possible fashion."

"When I was five, we went to the water park. It was my first time there." Abigail started. "I was so happy because I saw the commercials and bugged Mom and Dad a lot until they decided to go."

"It was really a fun trip." Arthur continued. "Jenny just lounged near the big pool, while I spent time with Abby, holding her hands and teaching her how to keep her legs kicking to stay afloat." He took a sip of his drink. "After a while, we decided to have a bit of fun by having me jump off the diving board while holding her."

"That's when it happened, didn't it?"

"Yeah. God, I was scared." Arthur sighed. "I mean, can you imagine it? One second, you're holding your daughter as you splash down into the water. The next, you're coming up just holding her little swimsuit."

"I don't remember what happened after I hit the water." Abigail recounted. "I think the water went up my nose, and my eyes were open. I just know that I felt like I couldn't breathe. Suddenly, I wasn't in the water anymore. Dad wasn't holding me either. I was just coughing and I was so scared." She looked like she was about to cry.

"Where did you go?" Phillip asked.

"I don't know." Abigail looked up at the ceiling. "I do remember someone coming and throwing their jacket on me. I didn't get a good look at who it was, though. My eyes were still all blurry. Wherever I was, I wasn't there for very long. Suddenly, I was underwater again. I thought I was going to die."

"I searched in and around the pool for what felt like forever." Arthur took another sip. "Finally, Abby floated up to the surface. I picked her up just to make sure she was still breathing. I didn't care how she disappeared. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. She swallowed a bit of water and she was crying hysterically, but she was still alive. That's all I cared about."

"I told Dad about where I went after we hit the water." Abigail was scooting her way closer to Phillip on the bed. "He said I probably imagined it. I believed him because I didn't know better."

"So how did you know you could time travel?"

"Older me came and told me." Abigail answered.

"It was about a month after the pool incident." Arthur was a little calmer now. "We were just relaxing at home. It was about lunchtime, and then we hear a knock at the door. But it was coming from the door to the backyard."

"That's definitely weird." Thomas chuckled. He hoped laughing would get his old friend to perk up after telling the last story.

"So I carefully come and open the door, but no one was there. Suddenly, there's this voice coming from behind the bushes in Jenny's flower garden. It was this young woman trying to cover herself because she didn't have any clothes on. Obviously, she wasn't trying to rob us. A burglar wouldn't knock on the door or try to do it in broad daylight, for one thing."

"That was Abigail? From the future?"

"She called me Dad, and her face looked a lot like Abby's. After getting her something to wear and letting her into the house, she asked me where my daughter was."

"Dad called me into the living room." Abigail continued. "I could hear talking, and there was this voice of someone I didn't know. I saw an older girl in the living room, wearing my mom's jacket and sweatpants. She saw me and smiled. She said she was me, at seventeen years old."

"So that was the first time you saw older you." Phillip commented. "Did you believe her?"

"She told me about my birthmark, and about something only I knew."

"What was that?"

"What happened to me when I hit the water."

"We would've called it crazy if it was anybody else who told us this." Arthur's pace was going back to normal. "But when she was describing to our Abby about what happened at the pool, the look on Abby's face told us she wasn't lying. She explained everything she knew after that. It wasn't much, but we didn't have any information on what happened to her. We thought she was having some kind of out-of-body experience when she nearly drowned. Everything she said made sense, and what little Abby told us proved it."

"After telling us what I had, she told me two important things." Abigail held up two fingers as she spoke.

"What were they?" Phillip asked.

"The first thing she told me was that I wasn't the only one who could time travel. She hugged me like this." Abigail wrapped her arms around Phillip's shoulders. "Then she said 'Everything's gonna be okay.' After that, she disappeared."

"Wow."

"I tried practicing, to see if I could control it. When I thought really hard about a place, I would be there. Not in the place I wanted, but usually really close. Then I tried to see if I could travel and keep my clothes."

"How did you try that?" Phillip had to chuckle a little at that idea.

"When I felt myself about to travel, I'd hold onto all the clothes I could with my hands and focus on keeping them on me. It never worked, so I stopped trying. Older me said it was important to just cover myself in any way I could. Mom and Dad also told the rest of my family, so if I wound up near any of their houses, I could just walk in and stay there until I traveled back. Remember how my aunt's house was open?"

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. I should tell my folks that."

Abigail started to lean on Phillip's shoulder. "You know, after we first met, I know future me was talking about you."

"Really?" She was so close, Phillip wasn't sure what to do, so he simply stood still.

"Duh! You're the only other time traveler I know, Phillip! Have you seen any others? Oh, have you met your older self?"

"Not yet." Phillip sighed. "I tried practicing, myself. Everything from when we first met each other, I kept it in my mind as best I could. I was trying to see you again."

"You were?" Abigail sounded excited.

"Yeah, but every time I tried, I came too late. There was one time I saw you, though."

"When?"

"It was last year when I traveled, and you didn't look much older than the first time. That's how I knew it was you. I tried to call out to you, but you disappeared. Other times, I'd end up in someone's room, and I'd find a girl's clothes on the floor or on the bed. I knew it was your room because you always kept a picture of you and your family somewhere."

"That was older me's idea. Keeping a picture of your family tells you where you are and when."

"I should try that too. Better idea than trying to stay as long as you can somewhere. Whenever I found myself in your room, I'd try to keep myself from traveling back just so I could see you."

"It's hard to control it, isn't it?" Abigail asked. "Whenever I was upset at school, I'd just find some corner to cry in. In the middle of it, I'd feel myself starting to travel. I'd try to calm down, but it just made things worse."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. The first time I traveled, I was feeling sad because I was being bullied." Phillip scratched the back of his head. "Remembering everything that happened that day helped cheer me up a lot. I just feel bad that I haven't talked to you since then, even though I tried."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like I haven't seen you."

"What?"

"I had my birthday a couple months ago. We were at the park because a lot of my family wanted to come, and we couldn't fit everyone in the house. I was with some of my cousins playing on the jungle gym, when I saw someone on the bench. The way he looked reminded me a lot of you. He was also dressed funny. Older me said that time travelers dress weird because we gotta wear whatever we find."

"So you saw older me? How'd I look?" Phillip was very interested to hear.

"Your hair was still a mess." Abigail reached up and knocked off Phillip's cowboy hat. "But he smiled when he saw that I noticed him."

"Did he tell you anything?"

"When I said it was my birthday, he wished me happy birthday and said he was sorry that he didn't have a present. But he was there. That was enough for me."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm." Abigail nodded. "After that, he kissed me on the forehead and said he had to go back to where he borrowed the clothes from. He left saying 'See you soon.' I think he knew."

"Well, if it's me from the future, then he probably would already know I'd see you today." Phillip ran that sentence in his head a second time to make sure he had it right.

"I thought he was just saying that he'd travel to me again. So I'm really happy that this is what he meant."

"Me too."

"Phillip..." Abigail's tone turned serious again after a few moments of silent and awkward fidgeting. "What did you think...of what happened before you traveled back the first time?"

"What do you mean?" She was being awfully vague, so Phillip didn't quite know what she was talking about.

"You know...when I kissed you."

"Oh!" Phillip's face was burning. "That. I...wasn't expecting it."

"You weren't?"

"No. I've never been kissed like that before. Except by my Mom, but everyone's mom does that."

"Well, my Mom says you kiss people you like. 'Find a boy you like, and give him a kiss. They understand that.' That's what she told me."

"So...does that mean you...like me? Like, 'like me' like me."

"Why do you sound so surprised, Phillip?" Abigail stepped off the bed and stood up. "You can do what I do. You know what it's like! Why wouldn't I like that?"

"Sorry." Phillip felt he offended her. "I've just...never thought a girl would like me like that." He slid off the bed and stood up as well. "I thought it was too good to be true because I thought we lived too far from each other. But now, you're here...for real...and I...don't know what to do."

"Maybe we just need to try something. You don't know if you don't try, right?"

"Maybe..." Phillip thought for a minute, and then he had an idea. "Can I...get another kiss?"

Abigail smiled. "Sure. Let's do this right."

Phillip and Abigail stepped close to each other. Once they were as close as they could be, Phillip noticed that Abigail was a little shorter. She was likely an inch shorter, at most. Abigail looked up at him, closed her eyes and pursed her lips as her face drew closer. Phillip decided to do the same; that's how it looks in the movies. His heart beat so quickly, he felt like he could fly, and he was sure she felt the same way. The seconds of tension felt like hours, but finally he felt the sensation of her lips on his. They held that position as long as they possibly could.

"Look at the time!" Abigail's mother Jenny looked at the clock on top of the TV in the living room. "It's just about time for the kids to go trick-or-treating."

"I'll go get your daughter and Phillip." Phillip's mother volunteered. "It was the first room on the left, right?"

She moved her way carefully through the people between the living room and Abigail's room. She reached the first door, noticeably closed, in the hallway. She couldn't hear if the kids were having a conversation over all the noise behind her.

"Phil?" She knocked on the door. "It's time to go get candy!" No answer. "Phillip?" Once again, nothing, so she thought to check if the door was locked. Thankfully, it was unlocked, so she simply turned the knob and opened the door. The room was empty. In front of the bed in the middle of the room, lay a discarded cowboy's costume on the left, and an empty blue dress on the right. She had a short gasp at the sight, but then caught herself and calmed down.

"Heather? Did you get them?" Jenny called from nearby. She was making her way towards Abigail's room when she noticed that Phillip's mother was taking her time retrieving the children. She came to the doorway and saw the clothes on the floor. "Oh, dear." She uttered.

"You think they're okay?" Heather asked.

"I think they're fine." Jenny answered. "We've seen her as a teenager, so she's not in any danger right now."

"As a teenager? We haven't seen an older Phillip yet..."

"Oh, then do I have a story for you to hear...let's get the rest of the kids ready first."

A cold wind was the first indicator that Phillip wasn't in the house anymore. He immediately opened his eyes and saw nothing but water in front of him. Seeing waves form and crash in front of him, he looked behind him, feeling wet sand on his feet. There were people on towels under umbrellas. A couple of toddlers ran around him, only looking for a second before getting grabbed by their mothers. A few of the beach's patrons stared, noticing the naked boy they swore wasn't there a second ago.

Phillip felt a different kind of embarrassment. "AWW, MAN!" He screamed and stamped his foot. He was afraid this would happen: that he would get so excited over kissing a girl who liked him that he would time travel. He felt like he wanted to cry, but something that blinded him from the side distracted him. A towel with a colorful design on it filled his vision, as it had been thrown on his head.

"Scream louder. I don't think the people who live on the shoreline heard you." Phillip heard the voice of an older man. Not quite as old as his father, but somewhere in between. Taking the towel and wrapping it around himself, he looked at the source of the voice. Standing above him was a man who he swore looked like his father, but his father always had very short hair.

"Who are you?" Phillip could only ask.

"I guess it's a little weird, since this is the first time you've seen me." The older man scratched his nose. "But I'm not your dad, if that's what you were thinking, and I know you were."

The revelation made Phillip's eyes widen. "Then you're...me?"

"You got it!" A big smile came across older Phillip's face. "Come on! Stay out here too long, you're gonna get sunburned." He took the younger Phillip's shoulder and led him to a nearby vacant set of towels laid across the sand. Surrounding them were fold-up chairs and a couple of large umbrellas stuck in the sand.

"Who came with you?" Young Phillip asked.

"Mom, Dad, Arthur, Jenny, and Abby. We wanted to come here as an early birthday present to her."

"Abigail's here?"

"The one from this time." Older Phillip specified. "Little Abby's not here. She went somewhere else after you kissed her."

"How did you know?"

"I'm you, remember?" Older Phillip chuckled.

"Right. I should get used to that, shouldn't I?" Young Phillip laughed nervously. He looked carefully at his older self. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen. Abby's gonna be sixteen at the end of the month." They both sat down on one of the towels. "Anything you want to ask me? Just small things. I don't want to give you too much information."

"Does Abigail...really like me?" He finally asked after a minute of deliberation.

"Uh...yeah. I know it seems weird to you, but I'm gonna tell you something important: She's lonelier than you think she is."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Don't ask too much about it right now. Just...stay with her. Stay with her, and never let her go."

"But...what do I do? I don't know the first thing about being her boyfriend."

"That's how we call it, huh? I forgot I said the word 'boyfriend.'" Older Phillip shook his head and laughed a little.

"Well...she 'likes me' likes me. Isn't that how it goes?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it does. But there's no real secret or magic behind it. At least with us. If she wants something, she'll tell you. Boys like us aren't going to get a message if it's in some sort of code. She knows that, so if she asks for something from you, even if it's something small like just hugging her or holding her hand when walking, you better do it."

"That's it?"

"Well...she got to like us right from the get-go, and we didn't really do anything we wouldn't do normally. We were even naked to boot."

"That's true." Young Phillip remembered how helpful and kind she was that first time.

"So don't worry about it." Older Phillip rubbed the young one's hair. "If a problem comes along, you have to be willing to work through it together. Things will be okay, but only if you believe you can make it okay."

"You really think so?"

"Hey, I'm you. I know so. You're gonna do just fine." He hugged the young Phillip. "Now, I think everyone's coming with food, and we need space for all of us, so I need to take this back." He grabbed the bottom of the young Phillip's towel and tugged so hard, it pulled the towel off of him and knocked him on his back.

"Hey!" Phillip shouted, but as he fell on his back, he suddenly noticed he was looking up at a ceiling. He was back at Abigail's house. The ceiling light was off, but a lamp on the side of her bed was on, giving a fainter light to the room.

"Is that you, Phillip?" He heard Abigail's voice. Standing up, he found Abigail slipping on a long pajama shirt, but her head was stuck. Looking closer, Phillip found that a button on the collar was still closed. He quickly came over and fixed it, allowing Abigail to bring her head and hair out. "I always forget about that button."

"What time is it?" Phillip wondered aloud.

"It's 10:30. Everyone's left already."

"We missed trick-or-treating?" Phillip nearly shouted.

"Not totally." Abigail pointed to her desk, which had two medium-sized buckets filled with candy.

"Is my family still here?"

"It's quiet. I think they left too. See?" She motioned to the bed, on which was a very large blue T-shirt, most likely her father's, and a note on top of it.

Phillip took the note. It read:

_Phillip. We're not sure when you'll be back, so we've gone home. Abigail's parents have agreed to let you spend the night when you come back. Don't eat any of the candy if it's late, and we'll pick you up tomorrow morning. Love, Mom and Dad._

"The shirt's probably for sleeping in." Phillip commented. He fished his underwear out of his costume and put them and the T-shirt on.

Abigail jumped onto her bed. "You can stay with me if you want."

Phillip was about to refuse, but he remembered his older self's words. Instead, he said, "Sure." The smile on Abigail's face told him he chose wisely.

Her bed was incredibly comfortable. Once Abigail and Phillip were both settled into bed, she looked at his eyes and whispered, "This day was awesome. Thanks for staying."

Phillip only nodded. "Of course. We're a couple now. Isn't that something couples do? Stay with each other?"

"I'm sure it is."

Phillip then remembered something. "Hey."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Where did you go after we kissed?"

Abigail sheepishly grinned, kissed him on the lips again, and said, "You have a very nice room."


	5. Author's Note

Just a quick little update: Life's been getting in the way of the creative process, but I'll try where I can. In the meantime, I'm not sure if anyone has noticed it, but I have done a rewrite of both chapter 1 and 3, a MAJOR rewrite to 3 especially. I hope you enjoy these new versions, and I hope you'll wait patiently for the next update.


	6. William and Judith (1)

**Man, do I feel embarrassed. This one's been percolating for a while, and it's taken me THIS long to finish. But I'm happy I still have followers, and I even have someone new! Hello, yoda! To answer your question, yes, Nick is gay, and you'll get to see how that fits later.**

**For now, enjoy a new story. This one's gonna be a little more sequential than the others. It doesn't follow the time traveler, and it doesn't jump around as much. You'll get what I mean if you don't right now.**

* * *

"I'm gonna do it!" William shouted, suddenly standing up from his seat at the outdoor tables at school.

"Do what?" His friend Tobias swallowed the bite of sandwich in his mouth. "You don't just say something like that out of the blue. It could mean anything! Are you planning to rob a bank? Write a musical? What?"

"Today, I'm gonna confess!"

"Did you kill a guy?"

"Toby! You know what I'm talking about." Will didn't have any time for jokes. "I'm going to ask Judith for a date!"

"Judith?" Tobias' eyebrow rose up. "Judith, 'cutest girl in class with the scary older brother', Judith?"

"I know that her brother's been on the protective side, but he's going to graduate next summer. This is the perfect chance!"

"You also realize that it's because it's his last year, he's going to be extra protective?" Tobias laid his elbow on the table. "He might just be desperate enough to get held back on purpose so he can look after her for as long as she's in school."

"That's stupid." William groused. "No one would stand for him doing something like that."

"Don't be too sure. I mean, how much do you know about her?"

"Well, I know where and what she likes to eat, which classes she's taking, and which gate she exits school from." Will counted these items on his fingers.

"You're going full stalker, man. Quit it."

"But I've known she was the one from the first day I saw her!" Will sat back down on the bench with a big smile on his face. "Freshman year, first week. We pass by each other on the way fourth period. One look at my face, and…"

"…And she blushed. Yeah, you've told me this story before. I'm the only one who's heard it." Tobias was looking bored and very annoyed.

"How is that NOT a sign? It's already been a year since then, and I haven't done squat because her brother's gotten in the way. If I go through my whole high school career without getting a girlfriend, how am I supposed to live with that?!"

"By not thinking that you need a relationship in order to validate your life?"

"Not an option!" Will crossed his arms with a resolute look on his face.

"Of course not." Tobias sighed.

The rest of the school day after lunch both flew by and crawled second by second for William. It went quickly when he was trying to figure out what to say to her, and it went slowly as he waited for classes to be over. Time was a cruel mistress to William, but he already made up his mind, and if he backed down now, he would not be able to muster the courage to do this again for a long time.

Having to run to nearly the other end of the campus was no easy task, but William had to make sure to he didn't miss her walking out of her last class. While time seemed to be working against him, luck was on his side, as he just noticed, in between gasps of breath, a certain brunette walking out the door. Those innocent features, the way her face was so well proportioned, and a smile that could be described like the gates to Heaven were just as good as the day William first saw her.

Alright, he thought. You got about five minutes before her brother comes around. Don't screw this up! He straightened himself as well as possible and blended into the crowd. He felt that just coming up in front of her would scare her off, so he opted for something a little more casual. "Hey!" He cried. "Excuse me!" He tapped his hand on her backpack to get her attention. As he expected, she turned around once she knew she was being spoken to.

"Can I help you?" Judith asked. Just the kind of response William felt belonged to someone so angelic.

"Hi..." William was trying very hard not to look like he was out of breath. "My name's William. I'm in your Algebra class..."

"Oh!" She responded. "I thought you looked familiar..."

"Yeah. Um, listen...if you don't mind..." Don't choke, don't choke. "Could I ask you something in private?"

"Um..." She looked around. "How about over there?" She pointed to one of the separate outdoor classrooms, specifically behind it.

"Yeah, that works!" He felt a pang of guilt that she seemed so trusting. No wonder her brother's so protective, he thought.

Much to his relief, it was just the two of them behind the classroom walls. He thought he could focus by not being around a bunch of other students, but the atmosphere that he found himself was just making him more nervous. He was able to focus once he heard her voice asking, "Now, what did you want to ask me?"

Now-or-never time! He breathed deep and let the words flow from his mouth. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but...I've come to like you. For a long time, I've had this affection for you. I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner, because I lacked the courage. But since I'm here, I don't want to let this pass me by. Would you go out with me, Judith?"

It felt like everything had stopped once the question left his lips. The look on her face changed, first to surprise, then to understanding. She finally opened her mouth. "I..." She started to say, but then her face changed again to utter shock, almost as if her body was under attack.

"Hey...are you okay?" William looked very concerned and began to reach out to her, but before he could get a hold on her, she turned and broke out into a run. "Hey!" He began to run after her. "Is something wrong?" He yelled after her.

Judith seemed to be trying to lose him, just getting enough distance that she was out of his reach. William was still worn from running earlier, which helped her situation and hindered his. The outdoor halls of the school could easily become a maze for the uninitiated, not to mention all the students who were still walking around made things that much harder.

They were both out of the crowds by the time Judith got to the library, at another end of the campus. Fighting his way through all the students was taking its toll on poor William's body, but he still tried to keep up, spotting her running along the edge of the library and around the corner to the back. As soon as she turned the corner, however, William heard the sound of a short yelp, as if she had tripped.

Crap! He thought. I hope she didn't hurt herself. He finally managed to slug his way to the library's corner to check on her.

However, what awaited him was not what he expected. On the ground, splayed out almost like some sort of display, lay a large shirt underneath a backpack, a pair of jeans, and socks still inside a pair of sneakers. These were the exact same clothes Judith was wearing. But what were they doing here?

This was the strangest thing William had ever seen in his life. He knew he heard Judith hardly half a minute ago. There was no way that she had time to take off her clothes (for whatever reason) and hide. Even so, if she was hiding, it was worth a shot to find her. "Judith?!" He shouted. "Are you here?" No answer. He began to panic. What do I do? If her brother finds this, I'm dead! He breathed deep a few times before deciding on a course of action.

Taking her backpack, he opened the main pocket to find that there wasn't much save for a couple of her notebooks. There was plenty of space in it, which relieved William. Carefully, he placed her sneakers in the back and bunched up her socks to place on the bottom. Trying to be mindful of her underwear, he folded up her jeans neatly and put them in. As he pondered what color they were, he grabbed her shirt by the collar, causing a flesh colored bra to fall out. When he noticed what fell out, he haphazardly stuffed the bra and her shirt into the backpack and promptly zipped it up.

"Right. Onto the easy part." He then opened his own backpack and pulled a sheet of paper from out of his notebook. He wrote in big letters "Property of Judith Sanders" and taped it to her backpack. Taking the backpack with her clothes, he entered the library and handed it to the assistant, asking them to have the office call her brother to pick it up, and not to tell him who delivered it. Before the assistant could ask anymore questions, William was already gone and out of the gates by the time the announcement was made.

Any normal person who witnessed what William had seen would do their best to convince themselves that they were hallucinating or that it just plain never happened. William, the whole trip home, couldn't shake it from his mind. He thought of what felt like every possible scenario, but none of them could satisfy him. He couldn't even do his homework, he was so distracted.

He decided that he'd put it to the back of his mind and just take a shower to relax after eating dinner. The shower did at least calm his nerves. Feeling refreshed, he walked up the stairs to his room, when a peculiar noise caught his attention. It was coming from his room, and it sounded like someone rummaging around in it. Everyone else in the house was downstairs. Whoever was making that noise didn't belong here. He ran up the stairs and into his room to find his second unexpected sight of the day.

At his dresser, looking through his different pairs of pants, was a little girl. The moment she heard him come in, she turned quickly to meet his eyes, looking like a deer in the headlights. Her blue eyes quivered and her brown shoulder length hair shook as she stepped back, like she had just been caught committing a crime.

"Who...?" William started, when he noticed that she was wearing one of his shirts, the bottom reaching below her knees. "That's my shirt!" She turned around to try and get some distance between them, but he was able to close the gap with his arm, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her towards him. He immediately tried to take the shirt off of her, grabbing the bottom and pulling up. However, before it completely came off, he found himself looking at her bare butt and back, causing him to let go, the shirt falling back into place. The little girl clenched her hands and her face was quite red with embarrassment. "Sorry." He felt that was the appropriate thing to say.

This was definitely weird for him. First, his crush goes from running to streaking in seconds, then a little girl breaks into his room looking for a shirt because somehow, she didn't have any clothes on coming in. He racked his brain trying to figure out just where she might have come from. The only possible way she could have gotten in was through the window, which couldn't be done on account that the window faced the backyard, and aside from the small trough to grow plants in, it's just a wall. Getting in from the bottom floor would also be impossible without being seen.

His only option left was to ask the girl. He looked down to see her simply staring up at him. Her features were quite adorable, now that William thought of it. Her face reminded him of Judith, but such a resemblance was only a passing thought, as he bent down to meet her at eye level. "Where'd you come from?" He asked.

The girl put her hands behind her back and looked to the side. "My house," was all that she answered with.

"And where's your house?"

"Around here..."

It became obvious to William that this girl was lying. Terribly, at that. He sighed as he knew asking her questions wasn't going to get him anywhere. He thought about just what he could do to get her to cooperate, when he heard an unusual growling noise. At least, it would be unusual if he didn't know what it was, but he knew that was the sound a person's stomach makes when they have yet to eat. The girl's face turned red again.

"How about we make a deal?" He asked, smiling at her. "I feed you, you give me answers. Real ones." The girl looked frightened that she had been caught lying, but then immediately nodded. "Good. I'm gonna go down to the kitchen and come back with some food. You stay here, and don't go through any of my stuff. Nothing else in this room's gonna fit you."

As he made his way down to the kitchen, William couldn't believe that he was doing this. Nothing about this made any sense; Not this girl, not how she got here and certainly not what he was going to do. He was still reeling from what happened with Judith. But if he wanted to find anything out about the girl, he'd have to work for it. He fixed up a plate of the fried chicken and corn from tonight's dinner and heated it up. With a glass of juice in hand, he came back to his room. Thankfully, the girl seemed to be behaving, sitting on his bed patiently.

"Here. My mom made this, and she's not too shabby of a cook. Enjoy." The girl went at the plate almost like a wild animal, leaving William to wonder when was the last time she ate. "Take it easy. It's not going anywhere." Within a few minutes, the chicken had been reduced to a bone, and the juice was gone.

"Thanks a lot!" She smiled, pieces of corn stuck to her face.

"Just makes sense to feed someone who's hungry." He replied, taking a napkin and wiping her face. "Now, are we ready to tell the truth?" The girl looked down at her feet for a few seconds, seemingly mulling her options, before she finally nodded. William figured he'd start with something direct. "What were you doing in my room?"

"I was looking for something to wear..."

"Okay." He remembered that she wasn't wearing anything other than his shirt when he found her. "Why weren't you wearing your clothes?"

"They're not here." A rather obvious answer, if not rather vague.

"How come?"

The girl shrugged. "It happens sometimes..."

It happens sometimes? How does losing your clothes just happen? He thought to ask, but he worried he might come off as harsh. He took a breath and decided to go in a different direction. "How did you get here?" The girl looked like she was trying to drum up an answer. William worried that she was trying to come up with another lie. "Hey." He called her attention. "Whatever's going on, I promise I won't get mad if you tell me the truth. You don't need to lie to me, okay?"

The girl scratched the back of her head before finally answering. "Connor got mad because I wanted to play with one of his toys, but he was being stupid and wouldn't let me, so I took one anyway and he called Mom and we got in this big fight and she told me to stay in my room and then I got here." There was a lot more in that response than William expected that he had to take a few seconds to process it all.

"Hold on. You got here after going to your room?"

"Yeah. Mom's probably gonna get worried when she doesn't find me there. I don't know where I am." That seemed to confirm to William that she was lying about being from around his neighborhood.

"How exactly did you get here?" He asked.

"It's a trick only I can do." She smiled smugly. "But it's hard to do."

"What do you do?" He was curious, but William also felt the need to entertain this girl's ego. She was scared to be here, and talking seemed to be helping.

"It only happens when I'm really angry. Or happy. Or sad. When that happens, I just go somewhere else. Like magic."

"I think you need to work on your magic if you can't take your clothes with you." He chuckled.

"Well, can you go to different places without a car or an airplane?"

"No."

She crossed her arms proudly. "Well, I can! So there!"

"Okay, okay. You win. That's really cool."

"Isn't it? Mom says it's just one more thing that makes me special."

"Can't argue with that. You sure are some kid." He smiled, but then noticed she looked a little dizzy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. When I feel like this, it means I'm gonna go back soon. Thanks a lot for the food, mister."

"Hey. Call me William."

"Judith. Hope I see you again."

Judith? The name struck him like a ton of bricks. But before he could say anything more, she was already gone, his shirt dropping onto his bed. If he hadn't seen it himself, he would've never believed it. However, the facts were staring him in the face and now everything made sense. That's what happened to the Judith from earlier today. But if she disappeared somewhere, where did she go?

All of this information was too much to take at once. If his Judith came back, he could ask her. But not only did he run before that happened, tomorrow was Saturday, which meant that he'd wait the whole weekend before he could see her at school again. For now, he thought he should try to recover from this as soon as possible. No point in panicking over something you can't do anything about. He took the plate and glass to the kitchen to clean up, and went back to his room. As soon as he thought that he wouldn't be able to sleep after all that, he was already unconscious.

Weekends were a nice thing, because it meant that William's mother wouldn't bother him to get out of bed early. While he wasn't one to sleep until noon, he also hated getting up at the crack of dawn if he didn't need to. Of course, the way his room was arranged allowed the sunlight to filter in enough for him to notice, an idea his mother implemented to ensure he didn't sleep in too late.

But something else would wake him this morning. At first, something seemed to be nudging him just slightly. Then, along with the nudging, he heard someone's voice. "Wake up."

"Hmm?" William groggily responded. He slowly opened his eyes and turned to his side. Looking at him was a sight he only imagined in his dreams. Right next to him was Judith. The Judith he knew from school. Her hair was down, rather than the ponytail he was always familiar with. Curious, he looked at the rest of her to see that she was actually wearing one of his pajama shirts. "I'm still asleep."

"Nope. I'm afraid not." She smiled.

"So I'm not dreaming?" William slowly sat up against the headboard of his bed.

"Come on. A girl's here to greet you in the morning and your only response is to think it's not real?"

"Something as nice as this can't possibly be happening to someone like me." He yawned. "But then again, after what happened yesterday, this probably is real."

Judith breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh. So I had it right the first time."

"Had what right?"

"The date when I first met you."

"So that little girl was you..."

"Yeah." She answered embarrassingly. "I came here when I was seven. Lost, scared and in nothing but my birthday suit. But you helped me."

"How did you do that? The younger you seemed to think it was magic."

"I'd call it more a strange medical condition."

"Is that what it is?"

Judith nodded. "It's called chrono displacement."

"So...time travel?"

"Basically." She put her hands over her face. "I can't believe I almost did it in front of you."

"It was a bit scary to see you run off like that and suddenly vanish. I didn't know what to think."

"And after you confessed to me too! You must have been heartbroken and confused for weeks!"

"Actually, Judith..." William corrected. "That was yesterday."

"What?" Judith looked around and found his alarm clock on a nightstand. She picked it up and looked at the date. "I've only traveled a day?"

"Yeah."

"Well...I guess I can give you my answer properly this time." She approached closely to William's face. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but...I've come to like you. For a long time, I've had this affection for you. I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner, because I lacked the courage. But since I'm here, I don't want to let this pass me by."

William had to laugh a little at his own words being repeated back to him. "So...that's a yes?"

"It will always be yes. You've been there for me so many times...I know they haven't happened yet, but I know you'll be able to help me. Because of that, I grew to love you."

"Wow..." William laughed nervously. "I don't know what to say about that..."

"How about for now, you accept this from me and we'll talk on Monday?"

"Accept what?" Right after he asked that, his lips were met with the feeling of someone else's. It felt surprisingly soothing and intense at the same time. As soon as he could react to it, she was already gone, his shirt draped across his lap. So many emotions went through him at once, and he wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that she would be visiting him often. But she seemed to have faith in him, and if it already occured as far as she was concerned, maybe he wouldn't do too badly. But as his confidence rose, he remembered something important that shot his confidence back down:

"I forgot to tell her that her clothes were in the library..."

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**Hope that entertains you guys until I get the next chapter out. Once again, if you got any questions or comments, just shoot me a review.**


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